00:00Today, these children are learning what to do if they're bitten by a snake.
00:06Once a month on a Sunday, they gather here in the Open Sky classroom.
00:11Through play, they explore and learn about nature outside their regular school routine.
00:18The programme is run by YouthCosmo, a social enterprise based in Pune that specialises
00:24in extracurricular environmental education.
00:26The idea is simple – if children feel connected to nature, they're more likely to care for it.
00:32Basically, kids have something known as a naturalist intelligence.
00:36And our focus at YouthCosmo is to boost that naturalist intelligence by exposing them to different formats.
00:43Because only if a child enjoys something, will he wholeheartedly learn something.
00:48In the case of a snake bite, they learn how to clean and bandage a wound,
00:52the difference between poison and venom, and how to tell a dangerous snake from a harmless one.
00:58These sessions are called Earth Kata.
01:01Roughly translated, Kata means a space for meaningful conversations,
01:06where urban children learn about the natural world around them.
01:11For today's Kata, I didn't know much about snakes.
01:15I thought they were invasive species which can attack and are harmful.
01:19This Kata helped me improve my vision about these species of snakes.
01:27City parents are eager to sign their children up.
01:30Environmental and climate education still play only a limited role in most schools.
01:36Kids right now are very aware, right, very inquisitive.
01:39But what it is thought in school is very theoretical, very rote learning, very Marx oriented.
01:44Organizations like YouthCosmo, events like Earth Kata, you know, tries to bridge that gap.
01:50There are people who are actually on the field working with the snakes, working with the birds, working with the
01:54trees.
01:55So schools also, as I said, needs to, you know, have these outings as part of their curriculum to bring
02:01their kids into the nature.
02:07Environmental education has been compulsory in Indian schools since 1991.
02:13But studies show it's often sidelined or doesn't happen at all.
02:18Shamita Kumar is the principal of the Bharati Vidya Pete Institute of Environment Education and Research in Pune.
02:25Here, programs for students are developed with a special focus on one key factor in environmental education, teachers.
02:35The pedagogy of transacting this knowledge in the class needs to change.
02:39It needs to move from the teacher being a giver of knowledge to building their own capacity to draw upon
02:47data or drawing upon or using experiential learning in the classroom in a way that appeals to the students as
02:54well.
02:54So that we have both the social emotional connect as well as the agency to deal with these complex issues.
03:03Teachers from Pune step up to the students' microscopes.
03:07Today's topic, microplastics in the environment.
03:11Sixty schools from Maharashtra and Gujarat regularly send teachers here for workshops based on the principle that first-hand knowledge
03:18and experience is the best way to teach students.
03:25We learned that microplastics are present in the air, in the water, and in the soil.
03:36This was something from the workshop that was completely new to us.
03:41Students know, they know climate change, they know global warming, they know plastics, they know microplastics, but they really know
03:46what it means on a daily basis.
03:48So the connect with the environment is missing, the connect to real life every day is missing.
03:53Bringing that in is actually an actionable point for me.
03:57The Institute is especially proud when lessons are applied outside the classroom and make a real impact.
04:04At one school in Pune, students learned about severe water shortages in a nearby village.
04:09As part of the program, they built a small dam from sand and stones.
04:15They were not very sure what would happen about it.
04:18But when they went and talked to the villagers in the next year, because they wanted to repeat the activity,
04:23the villagers who were not interested, you know, suddenly said, oh, we can offer you lunch.
04:28Because last year we did have some water in the drier months and it really helped our cattle.
04:34The next year and the year after that, they've continued this activity now with the cooperation of the villagers.
04:42Children growing up in cities have a very different perspective from those in rural areas,
04:47where the effects of climate change are felt directly in everyday life.
04:53Kids who live very close to the nature, they know that they depend on it.
04:57And they take extra efforts to protect it.
04:59In urban areas, what happens is they look at the environment as very disconnected for them.
05:04OK, it's outside the city.
05:06It is in the forest.
05:07It is in the ocean.
05:08It is in the hill.
05:08It is not in my city.
05:09I have nothing to do with it.
05:11That's certainly not the case for 13-year-old Bumi from Pune.
05:16From a young age, her father has taken her hiking and encouraged her to spend time outdoors.
05:22She knows many plants and animals.
05:24And the time spent in nature has made her more aware of the changes happening around her.
05:31Now, our whole environment is getting disrupted.
05:34Monsoons are coming earlier.
05:36Summers are hotter.
05:37And winter is not even colder now.
05:41Like, we are from nature.
05:42We are nature.
05:44So, how are we protecting nature and taking care of ourselves if we are not taking care of nature?
05:50Because we are nature, right?
05:52We should take care of it.
05:53It's like cutting the roots of a tree and expecting it to grow even taller.
05:59Bumi also regularly attends the outdoor workshops as there is always more to learn.
06:05Youth Cosmo is currently bootstrapped and relies on volunteer funding and has brought its programs
06:10to schools, learning centers and festivals.
06:15And the students take what they learn back home.
06:21For our man and his family, it's led to real change.
06:27We also use cleaners that are not chemical based.
06:32We use bioenzyme to clean our house.
06:34And our bin bags also are made of corn starch.
06:38And our toothbrushes and ear buds are not made of plastic.
06:44And they are made of wood.
06:44So it is friendly towards the environment.
06:47Youth Cosmo also publishes a magazine helping children to stay engaged between workshops.
06:54But organizations like these usually only operate on a regional scale.
06:58I would say that India has a very big challenge.
07:03Not only the challenge of building resilience, but the challenge of building environmental literacy
07:10in a billion people.
07:12This is a challenge that no other country in the world has.
07:18Here in Pune, they have taken on that challenge.
07:24And they are already showing what's possible.
07:27And it's really big as 1.5 kg of agriculture in this world.
07:29It's a lot of hard time at that.
07:31And we always have to play the character.
07:31We'll have to play playing and are to play this game.
07:32Now there are more hard time at it.
07:32At that time we can play the game.
07:32Our time has the best.
07:35You
Comments